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    A Russian Journal
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    A Russian Journal
    Unavailable
    A Russian Journal
    Audiobook7 hours

    A Russian Journal

    Written by John Steinbeck

    Narrated by Richard Poe

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Steinbeck and Capa's account of their journey through Cold War Russia is a classic piece of reportage and travel writing.

    Just after the Iron Curtain fell on Eastern Europe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Steinbeck and acclaimed war photographer Robert Capa ventured into the Soviet Union to report for the New York Herald Tribune. This rare opportunity took the famous travelers not only to Moscow and Stalingrad - now Volgograd - but through the countryside of the Ukraine and the Caucasus. Hailed by the New York Times as "superb" when it first appeared in 1948, A Russian Journal is the distillation of their journey and remains a remarkable memoir and unique historical document.

    What they saw and movingly recorded in words and on film was what Steinbeck called "the great other side there … the private life of the Russian people." Unlike other Western reporting about Russia at the time, A Russian Journal is free of ideological obsessions. Rather, Steinbeck and Capa recorded the grim realities of factory workers, government clerks, and peasants, as they emerged from the rubble of World War II-represented here in Capa's stirring photographs alongside Steinbeck's masterful prose. Through it all, we are given intimate glimpses of two artists at the height of their powers, answering their need to document human struggle. This edition features an introduction by Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateNov 13, 2014
    ISBN9780698159938
    Unavailable
    A Russian Journal
    Author

    John Steinbeck

    John Steinbeck (Salinas, 1902 - Nueva York, 1968). Narrador y dramaturgo estadounidense. Estudió en la Universidad de Stanford, pero desde muy joven tuvo que trabajar duramente como albañil, jornalero rural, agrimensor o empleado de tienda. En la década de 1930 describió la pobreza que acompañó a la Depresión económica y tuvo su primer reconocimiento crítico con la novela Tortilla Flat, en 1935. Sus novelas se sitúan dentro de la corriente naturalista o del realismo social americano. Su estilo, heredero del naturalismo y próximo al periodismo, se sustenta sin embargo en una gran carga de emotividad en los argumentos y en el simbolismo presente en las situaciones y personajes que crea, como ocurre en sus obras mayores: De ratones y hombres (1937), Las uvas de la ira (1939) y Al este del Edén (1952). Obtuvo el premio Nobel en 1962.

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    Reviews for A Russian Journal

    4/5

    79 ratings5 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I liken this bit of photo-journalism to Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Rather than Parisian cafe's Steinbeck and photographer Robert Capa travel to and within Russia in 1947 with the intent to debunk misconceptions about Russian people held by Americans at that time. To capture the typical, everyday life of Russians; the type of food they eat, clothes they wear and schools they attend, all while keeping a perfectly neutral view.Steinbeck and Capa traveled to Moscow, Ukraine, Stalingrad and Tiflis, Georgia. Along the way they were treated generously by farmhands and sometimes suspiciously by others but always with an over abundance of food, vodka and wine. Their conversations were enlightening and their fears similar to those back home. Steinbeck's conclusion is heartfelt and just as relevant 70's years hence as he states, "...the most dangerous tendency in the world is the desire to believe a rumor rather than to pin down a fact."
    • 4/5
      Some good things about this book:- No amount of previous WWII books and documentaries had made me "see" the devastation the Nazis caused in the east as this book has. The scarred earth full of trenches and craters in the former front lines, the ubiquitous metal skeletons being recycled into Soviet tractors and cars, the long lines of Germans POWs moving rubble ... the marks on the belts showing the improving conditions and the harsh past years.- The take on censorship and generally working under the Soviet institutions is eye opening, think bureaucracy not fighting you but itself and making everyone who dares come near its victim.- The love for partying of both Steinbeck and Capa, plus the numerous quirks of the latter, will never let the smile disappear form the reader's face.Bad things ... I cannot think of anything I didn't like.
    • 3/5

      Overall a good book. Steinbeck and Capa have a great chemistry going on that flows throughout their travels. Robert Capa (the photographer) writes a small chapter of his disgust and annoyance (more of a rant in form of a letter). It sheds some light and humor on the trip and gives a perspective different from Steinbeck. I enjoyed the dynamic between the writer and the photographer and the styles of personality that shine through while traveling in such a drastic difference of culture. They clashed, worked together and bonded.

      The information gathered is unlike any other, being more of a human nature. More of a documentation viewing the life of the Russian people, not the politics. Pieces of it bored me and I found myself dragging but as I was dragging I found my interest being perked in the next section with something just as interesting. This made me easily like the book, writing and content. The bits that were dull were dreadfully dull but the interesting bits are more then enough to make up for it.

      Steinbeck does a wonderful job telling the story with a varied eye. I believe this is why I find myself on this roller coaster, he makes sure there is something for everyone and doesn't miss a beat on anything he sees or experiences. It is a very thorough account of the travels. The photographs alone tell a wonderful tale and aid in the story, putting you right there and keeping you wondering about the life and times of the Russian people after the war.

      Some of my favorite bits were about the obsession the Russians have over soccer (as in most Europeans). They have a great passion for the game. Point in case:
      "The only really heated argument we heard during our stay in Russia concerned Soccer". I also particularly liked the parts about Georgia and the Georgians and I now find myself wanting to visit that part of the country very badly. Not to forget that I now have a desperate need to visit and try all the food that he writes about. Yum!
    • 4/5
      This book reminded me why I love Steinbeck's books so much. His tone, his warm and quiet humour, his ability to be wise without being a cultural snob, his humanity. For me he is the best writer ever. And his journal from his trip , together with Robert Capa, to Russia right after WWII, is a very, very good read. Most readers of Steinbeck skip his non-fiction. My strong advice: Don't... And even if you're not already a Steinbeck fan, read it anyway. A Russian Journal is a rare glimpse of Stalin's Russia as seen through the eyes of two rather apolitical artists meeting the Russian people. not the rulers.
    • 4/5
      Steinbeck's travels around officially sanctioned USSR with Robert Capa.